Corrective nipple for nursing bottles



Jan. 2, 1945.

R. E. RAMAKER 2,366,214

- CORRECTIVE NIPPLE FOR NURSING .BOTTLES Filed June .10, 1940 INVENTOR Patented Jan. 2, 1945 ifcoimE-C IVEI NIPPLE F03; NURSING-H 1 i u unorrms. q t Ray E. ltamaker, Seattle, Wash.

Q Mypresent invention relates to the art of orthopedicdevices and more particularly to a cor- 3 rective nipple for nursingbottles.

My invention consists of a nursing bottle nipple that is so formed as to fairly closely simulate the action of amotherfsbreast during the nursing of a child. To accomplishthis result myinipple find it necessary to apply my principles toia nursing bottle of the wide-mouthed type in order to achieve asufficiently large nipple body portion so that the normal nursing functioning willbe in force, thus preventing the child from de'vloping asuckingaction. i t t "The principal object of my present invention, therefore, is to provide a nursingTbottle nipple that will be so formed as to insure that a nursing infant will, of necessity; carry out the nursing operation just as nature intended it should nurse when'feeding on its mothers breast.

" A further object of my invention is to provide a most efficient means for insuring that 'theinfants lips will seal themselve upon a natural shaped areola so that the proper vacuum will be createdwithin the infant's mouth. l

I Still another object of my present invention is to provide a nursing nipple which, because of its shape and construction, will closely simulate the mothers breast and will not permit the satisfactory feeding of an infant unless'fthebottle is held in the hands of an attendant; this! insures against aggravating the malformations that may already and, usually do,'eicist. g l j A further object of myinvention is to provide a nipple structure which assists in ttl'iecorrection of narrow dental arches and deflected septums. A further object is to provide a nursing "nipple which will assist in the proper forming of the nasal passages and the palate and thus aidin preventing adenoids.

Anotherobject of m present'inventionis to nentupper teeth;

A further object of my present' invention is to provide a nursing nipple attachment shaped so provide meansto correct the formation of promit Still another object of my invention is to provide a nursing nipple so shaped that a thorough seal is madeby the lipssothat there is but little,

,- if any, intakeof'air during nursingjthus preventngcolic. ,1 a M i H Other and more specific objects will be apparent fromthe following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein section along Figure 1 is a side elevation of a nursing nipple made after the, teachings of myinvention.

Figure 2 isa top plan view of my nursing nipple.

Figure 3, is an elevation of my nipple taken in a plane passing through its vertical axis. i

Figure, 4, is a view illustrating thejshield portion Figure 5 isan elevationin section similar to Figure 3, but illustrating my nipple. as madeiin nipple is used, showing an infant nursing, and

one piece. U t

Figure 6 illustrates the manner in, which my showing the proper placement of the various features. ,1

, Figure 7 is a slightly modified ,form of my nipple in which an additional corrective feature has been employed; thisdevice is anextension on the shield member that engages the upper lip of a child thus forcing the lower jaw forward so as to'correct the receding jaw deformation that so often leads to adenoid growth' v H Figure 8 is a sectional view, through my nipple, similar to Figure 6; in that it shows my nipple in use but illustrating the samewith the shield extension for the correction f thereceding lower jawcondition. j t t Figure 9 is a side elevation showing my nursing bottle in fragmentary form with the infant's lip positions being-quite fully illustrated.

Referring to the drawing, {throughout which like reference charactersindicate like parts, In

Q designates the bodyof my nipple;- This'should be made of pliant material such as rubber which WlllhaVe approximately the sa ne yielding quali ties as the breast of anursing mothe r. At the lower portion of body 10 nprowdeath bottle engaging band l2. 'Thisjisfpreferably formed withan annular groove I4 which is adapted to engagethe beaded upper margin it of the nursing bottle 11. At the l pper'portion of body'lfl' is provided-the usualteat, ornipple, portion I8;

this should be approximatelythe same size as the i i teat of the average mother's breast; And in this that the nipple will not collapse thus always maintaining the connection it is desiid tc point out that this teat portion should be relatively ,-short, as it. is in nature, so that it will requir accurate positioni ing for the infant which in turn means that the bottle on which my device is used must be hand held. This action in itself then assures, with the rest of the parts properly formed, that normally full advantage will be taken of the same corrective advantages which distinguish breast nursing from bottle feeding. I have found that it is difiicult to mold in a single piece, a nipple arrangement that will give the same seal and 1 action as a mother's" breast. To this endI have found it desirable to form, either as a separate resilient member as shown at 20, in Figure 3, or H made integral with the nipples as illustrated in 2,3 0,214 at the lip 38, teat 18 can flex in a normal lifelike manner. v Method of operation In order to make this present invention more. thoroughly usable it is believed that the method of use and the manner in which corrective measures are achieved with my nipple structure Figure 5 at 2Ua'-a shield or skirt portion. Thus" it is possible to give a surface 2| that produces the same shape and action as the areola of the, mothers breast.

should be more fully described and in order to makethis description most complete, without undue illustrationswhichwould be mere duplications of those to be found in medical texts, I am including herewith a more detailed description of the use of my device.

'1 The fetal skeleton is almost wholly cartilage with only a few centers of ossification to be found at birth. It is easy to displace and mold And to this end it permits" the infants lips to fully engage this surface, 3-1};

after the showing of Figures 6 and 9. .The infants lips and gums come to rest on this surface as willbe noted particularly; in Figure 6,. so that,

first, an effective seal is. providedat this point so that the proper vacuum and manipulation can be achieved; and, second, in order to create this vacuum the infant's upper and lower jaws-.assuming the bottle to be -properly.heldl must be thenequally pushed forward and outwardlys as to properly engage this lip orshield. 1

It is to be noted that the shield portion, which will normally be, engaged by theinfants lips shape of the head is in the region of the parietal,

normally extends from an upper shoulder indi- I cated at 22 to the lower shoulder indicated at 24 and the surface intermediate these two shoul ders are provided with a plurality of raised por tions or -lobes25 whichsimulate quiteclosely the construction'of the areola of a breast in nursing .condition. Below shoulder '24 isafurther'extension of the shieldasZB which is provided to give a diameter inexcess of that which a child can take into its mouthand, at the same time, to

" .acarry out the effect of' the breast both as to'con figuration and shape. I I

In Figures 7 and 81 have carried my corrective features one step further in providing an out-v tion 30 which extends only through a relatively small portion of the total periphery; possibly through forty-five degrees or so. This pad has the function of engaging the upper lip, after the showing of Figure 8, in such a manner that, when the bottle is held-as is the intent with my nursing bottle-the infant, in order to make a seal wardly extending resilient pad or deflector p'or-' and cranial bones.

(to use the obstetrical nomenclature) the facial through the birth canal, which vary with the size of the infant'head and the size and'shape'ofj'the parturient canal. This plastic'changeis further influenced by the'obstetrician by theuse of the forceps as well as digital manipulation within the infant mouth. The most notable change in the frontal'and occipital bones. This abnormality is usually of short duration as'thesuturesare wide an the connecting tissue of such a resilient nature that the parts are brought back into proper position. Positioning of the head'upon upon the mothers breast. Nursingupon the normal breast isv a definite act on the part of the infant and must not be confused with sucking.

Here the upper lip rests upon the areola of the breast, and the lower jaw'is' broughtjforward to. meet the base of the areola; A true inter-maxillary force is brought into play as the lower jaw is brought forward and downward during the" nursing period. Furthermore a vacuum is cre-j on the shield'portion of the nipple, must of necessity extend outwardly its lower jaw. This 'corrects one of the most outstanding deficiencies of the long nursing nipples that are so generally used and is a highly corrective means for many disfigurements,'which, if not corrected at the early infant a'ge before the cartilage has solidified leaves lasting deformations in the face and teeth. My nipple may be provided with one, or a plurality', of milk discharging openings as 32 and maybe combined with many other types of desirable nipple structure. i

The shield'or skirtportion 20, as illustrated in Figure 4, is resilient and is provided with a tapered bore 34 who'sends terminate in the outstanding fiexible tapered lips 36 and 38. i The lip 36 feathers out onto the nipple l8 so as to provide a smooth juncture between the. two, while thelip 38, due to the taper of bore 34, holds member 20 securely, to. the main body ill of the. nipple. As the nipple Ill is only'secured to memberlllzl ated within the infant mouth as the lips seal themselves to the areola. Suckling is not accomplished by the action of the tongue, but is purely mandibular. The downward motion of the man dible draws out the nippleand areola,'and at the same time, the milk fiows into the lactiferous sinuses, closure of the jaws squeezesthe milk out of the ductsjand into the lingual fold. At all times the upper lip is'in contact with'ithe mother's breast and a pressure is thereby exerted upon the lip that is sufilcient to force the malpositioned parts into a normal position. This. normal positioningof the pre-maxilla, carries the nasal sep tum into; its rightful position. Throughout this nursing actthe up of the tonguerests beneath th'e't p'of' the teat, the teat beinglof such a structure thatit cannot be forced to the roof of i the .mouth.. 1 This is normal nursing and is: natures method of overcoming the malformations thatarise during theactual birth period. 3

, Therubber nipples that have been found on themarket today, are too long and do not resemble the mothers' breast nor do they permitthe child to nurse in a normal manner, Infthis During birth the infant head, issubjected to varying forces, during its descent child to grasp it alone.

instance the infant actually sucks upon a rubber tube. If the nipple is made shorter the resistance is too great for the child and it cannot feed. It is a well known factthat the mothers teat as well as the areola elongates to some extent during the nursing act, but it must be noted that both elongate and a natural balance is maintained, the lips always in contact with the areola. The rubber nipple is made of such a length that the child cannot rest theupper lip on the body of the nipple, without the nipple extending into the throat thereby causing the child to choke.

The child does attempt, at first, to receive the entire nipple but is forced to expel a part of it which breaks the seal and the child must then actuallysuck to obtain the food. This is accomplished by placing the tongue below the nipple and with each suckle the rubber teat is forced against the roof of the mouth at apressure that varies from one-quarter of a pound to over a pound in actual pressure. This is a force greater than the bones can withstand and only serves to increase the malformation that is already present. Furthermore, the bottle is usually placed on a pillow or some similar support. The give of the pillow plus the weight of the bottle and its contents causes a fulcrum on the rubber teat at the point where the teat and the body of the nipple are joined. This force again draws the anterior portion of the maxillary bone forward and increases the septa] deflection. This force is far greater than any force used by an orthodontist in his work of straightening the teeth and here it is applied to an infant mouth that is most subject to stress influence. This act over a period of days, weeks, and months, is the most disastrous and destructive force that can be en-. forced upon a child at this early age, and is responsible for over seventy percent of the abnormalities that exist today.

When adapted to the ordinary nipple the lip guard 20 permits the infant to nurse in a manner very similar to the normal. The upper lip and underlying tissues are supported, the mandible is brought forward in a natural manner and a vacuum is created in the infant mouth. The rubber teat is made shorter by its use and the bottle must be held by the mother as there is not sufilcient length to the teatto enable the It is corrective to the .malformed parts in the same manner as the natural breast.

The foregoing description and the accompanying drawing are believed to clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that such changes in the invention truding from a nipple body, and a resilient areola shield encircling the teat a distance from the nipple body, means spacing the outer face of the body from the adjacent face of the shield to form an annular ring cavity between the nipple body and shield to permit the partial collapse of the shield around the teat under pressure applied during nursing.

2. A device for use with a nursing nipple having the usual teat, comprising a resilient lipshield having an axial bore for encircling the teat a distance from the body, said lip-shield having a wholly convex areola face between its peripheral edge and the teat, and a spacer flange adjacent the inner end of said bore to separate the encircling shield from the nipple body.

3. A device for use with a nursing nipple having the usual teat, comprising an annular resilient removable lipshield having an axial bore for encircling the teat a distance from its junction with the nipple body, said lip-shield having an areola face between its peripheral edge and the teat, lobes spaced apart on the areola face, and

spacer means adjacent the innerend of said bore to separate the encircling shield from the nipple body.

4. A nursing'nipple having the usual teat, a resilient areola shield encircling the teat a distance from the body of the nipple, means be-.

tween said shield and the nipple body to provide an annular cavity between the nipple body and shield, and a resilient pad extending forwardly from the peripheral edge of the shield and transversely of the longitudinal axis of the teat to engage the upper lip only of a nursing infant and encourage the lower jaw being thrust forward during the nursing.

5. A. device for use with a nursing nipple having the usual teat, comprising a removable resilient areola shield having an opening for encircling the teat, spacing means on said shield for determining its positioning on said teat in spaced relation to said nipple body, and a resilient lip pad on said shieldconcentric with the axis of theteat opening and extendingforwardly from the shield wholly on one side of the teat and adapted to be positioned during the nursing in terval against the upper lip only of an infant to 

